Djokovic_is_the_best#1
Bionic Poster
You were right buddy!At last you accept.![]()

You were right buddy!At last you accept.![]()
Since I don't want to indulge the ravings of a certain user (I just signed up and someone already claims to label me in a certain way out of pure prejudice) even though there is no real need (it's a matter of reiterating the obvious) as a Sinner fan who still tries to analyze things with coherence and objectivity, I would like to express my impressions on the Beijing match, breaking several lances in favor of Alcaraz. First of all, the surface has nothing to do with it, it's useless to stay here and dissect the speed of the Beijing surface and how it could have been more favorable to the Spaniard. Sinner turned his career around on these courts last year, his game marries perfectly with the Beijing courts. Small aside, in the Sinneraz rivalry there are no surfaces that are too comfortable in favor of one over the other and vice versa, or rather, both can beat their rival everywhere regardless of speed, bounce and so on, something that has already been demonstrated several times considering that Alcaraz beat Sinner 5 times on the hard surface that on paper should favor Sinner more, while Sinner in the only match between the two on grass had the upper hand, clay at the moment 1-1 and ball in the center. So the theory in this case can go to hell. And I'm not saying that on every surface it's 50-50, but rather that we are not in the least in terms of comfort zone at the levels of Fedal or even Nadovic. Having said this and returning to the match in Beijing, I will never say that Alcaraz had full control over Sinner, this cannot be when Sinner himself between the second and third set was on several occasions very close to turning the match definitively in his favor, however the superiority in the overall match of Alcaraz was evident. Superiority that had never been felt in the two previous seasonal challenges, because if it is true that in this Beijing final the Spaniard never managed to definitively escape (except obviously in the decisive tiebreak) it is equally true that the slaps that Sinner reserved for Alcaraz in the respective first sets of the semi-finals of IW and RG in this case were absolutely not seen, precisely because there was never a single moment where the Italian managed to dominate the Spaniard on the level of play, not even when he recovered in the first set from 5-2 down did I have this perception. Simply Alcaraz was stronger and fully deserved to win, but he was stronger not only in the final but also in the tournament as a whole, in fact in the end despite a seasonal h2h situation increasingly compromised (but not completely) I still welcomed the verdict positively precisely because on the eve of the final, following an unmistakable trend due to the path in the tournament, I would have expected Sinner to come out defeated in an even more crushing way in terms of the score. And please note that I am a firm denier of the theory "winner of the match = stronger player on that particular day", so my judgment is not based on results but is based on the objectivity of the forces on the field. Sinner could have won this final and I would have said the exact same thing (Alcaraz was stronger), just as, always by the way that I am not a fan with slices of ham lined over my eyes, I have no problem whatsoever in admitting that in the challenge between Sinner and Djokovic in the last Davis Cup, despite the final result that day the strongest was indisputably the Serb, in the series, reasoning by absurdity, if that day that match had been replayed 10 times at least 7 times, for what were the real values of strength at that moment, the result would have smiled on Djokovic.
wotThey've played far too less, and I don't think there is a matchup issue for Sinner. If anything, Alcaraz has a matchup issue & mental lapse problem against Sinner.
He keeps making life difficult for himself against the Italian.
LOL It is slower than some clay tournaments and well slower than average. You guys are something else!Beijing is a fast, low bouncing HC
What's their data source?LOL It is slower than some clay tournaments and well slower than average. You guys are something else!
This is basically confessing that Alcaraz is a significantly better player than Sinner. Cause he's still winning the majority of the matches at 21 (vs Sinner who is 23) despite having a match-up issue. Correct?They've played far too less, and I don't think there is a matchup issue for Sinner. If anything, Alcaraz has a matchup issue & mental lapse problem against Sinner.
He keeps making life difficult for himself against the Italian.
Much betterZverev choked.
Maybe you could show your source and data if you have any. As you can see those are accurate numbers, not subjective views. It was obvious to me, watching the play, that these courts were slow and was difficult to make winners.What's their data source?
I'd trust the CPI data way more than these random 3rd party websites.
The ironyMaybe you could show your source and data if you have any. As you can see those are accurate numbers, not subjective views. It was obvious to me, watching the play, that these courts were slow and was difficult to make winners.
Alcaraz sure didn't have any issues hitting winnersMaybe you could show your source and data if you have any. As you can see those are accurate numbers, not subjective views. It was obvious to me, watching the play, that these courts were slow and was difficult to make winners.
I said it previously and will said again, bring your own source and data. If not just shut up for ***** sake, you are embarrassing yourself!!The irony
Of course. Did I say it was impossible? I said it was difficult, and the fact that, in general, the UEs vastly outnumbered winners is showing this.Alcaraz sure didn't have any issues hitting winners
Man there is no excuse regarding court surface, Alcaraz hit almost double winners than sinner, It was a quite fast hard court as many pro players said, you could argue sinner wasnt on his best form, but people definetly need to stop saying the court was slow, its definetly not trueOf course. Did I say it was impossible? I said it was difficult, and the fact that, in general, the UEs vastly outnumbered winners is showing this.
Unless the website cites the source of their data to measure court pace other than the ace %, which is a very misleading number, I'd say take it with a fistful of salt.I said it previously and will said again, bring your own source and data. If not just shut up for ***** sake, you are embarrassing yourself!!
Talking about embarassment, your data source - the Tennis Abstract, rates Newport - a grass court tournament with slick & low bouncing surface on par with Paris Olympics, played at RG with high bouncing slow Clay court, at 0.90.you are embarrassing yourself!!
This looks outdated (2016-2017) and I can't see Beijing data, just Shanghai. The site I showed early is a reputable site BTW. You can see the data for each year and each tournament. I don't think they are making up staff.Unless the website cites the source of their data to measure court pace other than the ace %, which is a very misleading number, I'd say take it with a fistful of salt.
CPI is the true measure of a court being slow, medium or fast. Unfortunately, that data doesn't get released too often. Here in the image, as you can see, Shanghai is listed as fast, with 44.1 CPI. Beijing courts play similar to those in Shanghai & thus, as a logical conclusion, they're fast courts as well.
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The site you provided puts Roland Garros a lot of places away from the olympics which was played at the same place with a couple months difference, and also puts many Clay tournaments above decently fast courts, thats the problem when you only count aces to measure court speed, its an horrible way to do It honestlyThis looks outdated (2016-2017) and I can't see Beijing data, just Shanghai. The site I showed early is a reputable site BTW. You can see the data for each year and each tournament. I don't think they are making up staff.
The fast courts is where old nole has better chances now.Here you can see roughly the same ranking, but from a different set of data. The analysis is based on serve effectiveness. As you can see the end results are really close to previous dataset.
It is indeed an outdated data, but its what the situation looks like in tennis. The officials of ATP, WTA & ITF don't release the statistics & data nearly as much as other sports, rendering the data related discussions to be speculative. Talking about the data by tennisAbstract, I can't take them seriously, because they've rated Newport & OG Clay (RG) both at similar levels, which is ridiculously hilarious. Ace % alone can't tell us about a surface being quick or slow.This looks outdated (2016-2017) and I can't see Beijing data, just Shanghai. The site I showed early is a reputable site BTW. You can see the data for each year and each tournament. I don't think they are making up staff.
Alcaraz was a big disappointment in failing to beat the 37-year-old Djokovic on clay.The aging, near-retirement Djokovic flattened Alcaraz at the Olympics. No excuse for Alcaraz, one of the most over-hyped players of this century.
Ok and yet beat him back to back at Wimbledon which most consider to be the most important slam of the year and one of Novak's best surfaces. When he beat him in 2023 Novak was still in peak form and had won 3/4 slams that year and that wasn't peak Alcaraz yet that beat him.Alcaraz was a big disappointment in failing to beat the 37-year-old Djokovic on clay.
Yeah, Raz could have easily closed out the first set and won in straights.Choked on what lol
He could be beaten even worse today.
Clay isn‘t Raz’ best surface and Novak is underrated on clay.Alcaraz was a big disappointment in failing to beat the 37-year-old Djokovic on clay.
Novak will be 38 next year, Jeez, I remember when he was a kiwi teenager…The fast courts is where old nole has better chances now.
This is basically confessing that Alcaraz is a significantly better player than Sinner. Cause he's still winning the majority of the matches at 21 (vs Sinner who is 23) despite having a match-up issue. Correct?
Pun intended?All this will be forgotten when Sinner cleans Alcaraz at WTF and AO.
Rubbish againInteresting how fast some people jump to conclusions... especially after an ATP500 final. 2 weeks ago Alcaraz was finished and done for good after his USO exit, now he is the future Goat again? Too Funny. As a huge Djokovic fan I have no horse in this Sinneraz race. I feel quite neutral in general. I prefer Alcaraz's game and personality but I don't dislike Sinner. However the H2H means little when I compare two players. Even if Djokovic had a losing H2H against Fedal (which isn't the case but IF), I'd still consider him the Goat because he has more Slams and more weeks/years at number #1.
Alcaraz was mentally stronger in key moments in these last 3 matches, no debate. But Sinner is more regular this year. I mean we can support whoever we want this year but the gap of points isn't even close at this point. Sinner has 9,400, Alcaraz has 6,600. 2,800 points equals 3 Masters1000 or 2 Grand Slam finals. It's a huge gap (albeit the season isn't over yet) if we compare 2024 to some other seasons like 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022. In 2016 Murray snatched the YE-#1 away from Djokovic in the very last match of the season in London. In 2019 Djokovic lost that YE-#1 for 1 single match against Thiem. In 2022 if we count Wimbledon points, the gap between Alcaraz and Djokovic was like 100 points (knowing he had to skip 2 Slams and half of the Masters because of the covid tyranny).
Unless Alcaraz has a super strong end of season and finishes 100 or 200 points behind Sinner after Turin, I don't think it's fair to question or asterisk Sinner's YE-#1. He was more regular in Slams and Masters in general. His earliest exit of the year is his Wimbledon QF. He didn't lose in early stages of tournaments against guys ranked 80-100 like Monfils Monteiro and Zandschulp. At this point is isn't even sure Alcaraz will finish #2, Zverev is only 400 points behind him and is a better Indoors player...
And quite frankly, I don't think Sinner was anywhere near his best level in those 3 matches this year. In IW we all saw he got injured at 6-1 3-1 and could barely walk the rest of the match. RG Semi was an atrocious match levelwise, I don't know what happened but it was painful to watch. And the Beijing final ended 7-6 in the 3rd, Sinner had break points at 7-6 4-3. Sinner lost sets to Jarry, Etcheverry and Safiullin, I don't think he is half as good as he was in Cincinnati/USO or AO/Rotterdam/Miami. His level dropped massively in China. This match only shows that Alcaraz was mentally stronger but it's not enough for me to say he has the mental edge and will dominate the future matchup and have a better 2025 season. The truth is he is still 2,800 points behind Sinner in the Race. And will have to wait for his 2nd YE-#1, as he had to last year with Djokovic (and would have in 2022 if Djokovic could play AO and USO).
That's pure speculation, I don't even think Sinner is better than Alcaraz on HC despite having one more Slam. 2025 should confirm this.Imo we need to wait , This is Sinner's first year in prime and he hasn't met Carlos on HC in slams , else he would have made annihilated him. Carlos hit his prime one year before Sinner , we gotta wait and see how it pans out.
Carlos at 20 years old in his prime? Dude what are you talking about.That's pure speculation, I don't even think Sinner is better than Alcaraz on HC despite having one more Slam. 2025 should confirm this.
Carlos is two years younger And If this is Sinner’s prime then he will be annihilated when Carlos hits his.Imo we need to wait , This is Sinner's first year in prime and he hasn't met Carlos on HC in slams , else he would have made annihilated him. Carlos hit his prime one year before Sinner , we gotta wait and see how it pans out.
Carlos is also in his prime. Sinner is also in his prime.Carlos is two years younger And If this is Sinner’s prime then he will be annihilated when Carlos hits his.
I think the problem with that data source is it is inherently a ratio, good for comparing speeds of surfaces within the same year, but not great to extrapolate for other years.What's their data source?
I'd trust the CPI data way more than these random 3rd party websites.
As you see in this thread, some continue to make excuses for his defeat at the hands of Djokovic. So much for their "Alacraz is going to be the GOAT" cries.Alcaraz was a big disappointment in failing to beat the 37-year-old Djokovic on clay.
what's your source that Beijing courts play similar to those in Shanghai?Here in the image, as you can see, Shanghai is listed as fast, with 44.1 CPI. Beijing courts play similar to those in Shanghai & thus, as a logical conclusion, they're fast courts as well.
Newport for the past few years has been one of the slower grass courts on the ATP Tour (afaict usually goes something like Halle ~= Stuttgart > Mallorca > Eastbourne ~= Queen's ~= Wimbledon > Den Bosch > Newport). if you look at this graph (https://fogmountaintennis.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/court-speed-ranges.png?w=640) you'll see that grass can vary greatly in its characteristics (as it has historically been described). (funnily enough because of this i think there's a legit case that the pre '75 Grand Slam was more difficult than the '88 onwards Grand Slam)Newport - a grass court tournament with slick & low bouncing surface
played in the middle of the summer rather than spring. higher temperature -> lower air density -> less drag -> plays (and is perceived to be) faster. similar to how high altitude tournaments like Madrid have less air density and so on and so on. CPR formula acknowledges this to some extent (https://www.perfect-tennis.com/tennis-court-surfaces-and-court-speeds/, search for "how is"): CPR scales linearly with increases in ball temperature in degrees Celsius (by a factor of a*c = pace perception constant * temperature coefficient = 150 * 0.003 = 0.45).Paris Olympics, played at RG with high bouncing slow Clay court, at 0.90.
it's good for taking into account all factors that could affect court speed (as perceived by players and viewers, which is practically more important than the isolated speed as function of surface specifications). CPR is good and fine but then you still have temperature, air pressure, altitude, and ball specifications to think about. ace % is nice (when scaling for server & returner ofc) bc you generally expect (and want) it to be directly related to court speed for a sensible definition of speedthats the problem when you only count aces to measure court speed, its an horrible way to do It honestly
yeah even within the '90s, RG's TA surface speed was varying wildly and comparing numbers between years didn't really match with expectations (e.g. '96 was 0.70, '92 was 0.82)I think the problem with that data source is it is inherently a ratio, good for comparing speeds of surfaces within the same year, but not great to extrapolate for other years.
For instance, Turin having a TA surface speed of 1.62 means that on a Turin court, players would hit 62% more aces than an average tour level surface that year.
However, take Wimbledon 1998 for instance. It has a TA surface speed of 0.99, meaning that on average, players would hit 1% less aces there than on an average tour level surface. No one sane believes Turin is significantly faster than 90's wimbledon, but it instead tells me that the average court in 1998 was very fast, leading to this skew.
is winning the Grand Slam a necessary but not sufficient condition for GOAThood in your eyes?"Alacraz is going to be the GOAT" cries
Is it wrong if I equally support Alcaraz and Sinner despite being Spaniard?
I guess the most "normal" thing is to support the player of your nation. Yeah, probably I lean slightly (very slightly indeed) more toward Carlos for that reason, but overall I've almost zero preference for one or the other. I just enjoy every time they hit the court, as they're both equally spectacular and incredibly talented.
One things is for sure: the present and future of tennis is safe at their hands.
WTF how did you come up with this conclusion based on what I wrote?Carlos at 20 years old in his prime? Dude what are you talking about.
24-25 is a players typical prime with some outliers.
Some good points you made there, mate.I think the problem with that data source is it is inherently a ratio, good for comparing speeds of surfaces within the same year, but not great to extrapolate for other years.
For instance, Turin having a TA surface speed of 1.62 means that on a Turin court, players would hit 62% more aces than an average tour level surface that year.
However, take Wimbledon 1998 for instance. It has a TA surface speed of 0.99, meaning that on average, players would hit 1% less aces there than on an average tour level surface. No one sane believes Turin is significantly faster than 90's wimbledon, but it instead tells me that the average court in 1998 was very fast, leading to this skew.
I quoted the wrong guy my mistake.WTF how did you come up with this conclusion based on what I wrote?
Rubbish again
2 weeks ago raz wasn't finished. he slaughtered Fritz who was in USOpen final in exho laver cup and won the tournament single handedly.
Level he shown vs Fritz and Shelton was surprisingly goaty but this was exho and we let that go.
Then when matters came to head , sinner has chance to claim he is the bigger fish but he failed very badly.
This was 132 pts to 120 +12 pts difference.
Raz could have thrashed sinner even worse he had 15 bps. Sinner got lucky to get to 3rd set tiebreak
And this has happened many times now. IW RG now Beijing.
500 or any other level doesn't matter. I am sure sinner can't hope to play better than he did last Wednesday if this was a slam per say. But the result was resounding alcaraz win.
Two weeks ago raz single handedly beaten all in exho but level was super high and then he ended sinner on hard courts where sinner won all the titles (except 2). Sinner is proper HC specialist but he couldn't even come close to raz.
So there it is.